Spectacle lens layout device



Jan. 8, 1952 gJ. H. LINE SPECTACEE LENS LAYOUT DEVICE 2 SHEETS- SHEET l Filed Feb. 26, 194'.7

yenam Ifo/fen fili/'na lig/ Jan. 8, 1952 1 H, UNE 2,582,048

' 'SPECTACLE LENS LAYOUT DEVICE Filed Feb. 26, 1947 l 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Znvenoff tfOn H Patented Jan. 8, 1.952

UNITED STATES PAl['.l`l.'l`.v r`(1Fl=.`lfl

. 2,582,048 v y SPECTACLE LENS LAYOUT DEVICE John n; Line, Rieraaie, nl.' Application-*February 26, 1947,:ser1zal No'.-f73'1,o7r

` rclaims.y (01-88-7-56,

This invention relates generally vto protractors employed inlaying-out-guide markings on spectacle lenses prior to grinding, and more particularly to. animprovedv-protractor device vfcirlusefin the laying out/of bifocalas` wellasrordinary lenses.

Spectacle lenses are generally formed from lens blanks which rare ground to a shape-corresponding to a .prescriptionfurnished vby an Optometristoroculist totheflensl'grinding establishment. The

lens blanks comprise apolished vpiece of glass lof uniform thicknesshaving a spherical convex'surface anda sphericalconcavefsurface,ftheeradii ofcurvature Lof the lrtwo surfaces differing `by thethickness offthefblank-cso that light passing:V

through the lens- 'is notfdiverted from its path and the lens iblank neither magnifiesI nor diminishes@ In practice, the concave surface, which will .ultimatelyibe adjacent the spectaclewearers eye, is ground .to the. contourdirected vby themescription. whilefthe .convex .outer surface :is L left! untouched.

The optical defects of the eye may be enumerA ated as follows: (l). myopiapor;nearsightedness, (2) -hypermetropiaorvr farsightedness;` and-1Y (3)- astigmatism Where objects `seen aredistortedpinshape. Astigmatismfmay and frequentlydoes0c#` cur simultaneously with myopiaor with ,hyper-f-v metropia. Myopia and hypermetropiafare usu` allydue to a'cornea'having too great or toosmall a radius rof curvature while astigmatism is `usually dueto different portions-of thecornea having .1uny equal curvature..

Myopia and hypermetropia arei` corrected'by...l

employing, respectively, either a diverging orconverging spectaclelenswhile astigmatism must be.l

corrected by a y cylindrical lens. Whenv astigfj matism occurs simultaneously with myopia orlhypermetropia, a cylindrical lens which is also vdi-r vergingv or converging. mustbe employed.

To serve as a guide to the-lens grinder during the grinding operation, various linesand notav tions are inscribed lon the convex surface of they.

blank prior to grinding. Among these are angular lines extending. across the lenssurface. and passingthrughthe center of the lens. Th'ese latter lines are used in determining .the axis of.

the cylindrical lens for the correction of astigmatism. vThe markings are usuallyinscribed on f the glass surface with a special marking ink "appliedl by; means of a small'stick vof. orang'ewoo'd. To aid in properly laying outthe' blank, it isset on-top of a special protractor convex sidejupwith L.

thev center of the-blank over the center of the pre1 tractor and-the'line's are laid out with a small flexibl'efruler laid on top of the'blank. Afterthe o lens-is ground,-a si'm'ilar'protractor is'used tolay W557i outilinesi-.tof befused intrimmingthecircular blank to the required periphery. Prdrfto'rgrinding, but aftenpreliniinary markingi, ,the 7:blanks are` cemented to circular steel holders using pitcnasa. cement,1` the` marked convex '=side^being;fadjaoent the holcerf;`

Bifocal lenseszarerusually.formed from. speciali'V blanksawhich'are similar to those' described-.except thatythe; portion of f the blankewhich'isf `to become the secondary or bifoca'llensthas aninsert piecev ofzazglasss'havinga higher refractive index fused: into. its: Th'eblankssare@prepared-by ygrind-ing a-. depression 'into the concave side of :thefblank,in'-A sertingia :slug-.of thef'higherrindex glassfinto l.the depression-,and heating the whole-blank Vtoa .terneA` perature `just ,sufficient -to cause the; insert slugsv to melt and :become fused integrally to zthefbla-nlfe:A but not sucient tofmelt :the blank:-=itself. For -1l this `reason it is difculttodiscernfA-the boundaries s ofthe bifocalportionrofalens'zorfblankfparticularly :when the -frefractive'index.A of the 2- bifocal portion` is close-.exto that of the blank1 proper, for there is'.- no .actual line `ofaclemarkation.between thetwo portionsb utcnly la difference inthe'light, refractingproperties of y. theftwo.

Consequently-,iin the past, difficulties havebeen A. experienced in accuratelyV .la-ying out. the kblanks in the .grindingand--edga cutting ofabifocal lenses, resulting. in inferior` spectaclesV being.. produced... The lcifocal.portionA of a lensvmustfbe precisely.. located according ltotheflens.prescrption inA order., thatfit will bein the properpositionWithfrespectf to thespectaclewearer-2s eyeA and lmore,important in orderthat the. contours kof.the.concave side -of l, the-lens..willbepropenover eachlof the 'two lensl.. elements.. y

One. .object of. 'this invention. therefore, is to Y provide -.a -..protr`aetor. which '..=.wil1 `increase.-the accuracy Oflayingouta lens..blank'ffor a .bi-focal lens..

A-second.- object is? to .provide an .illuminated protractor illuminated'insuchla manner aste. indicatethe outlineofth bifocalportion .of the 'i lens, particularlyftn'. 1301")j ,fedg'' of'tli portion.

Another Objectis. to .provide"a protra'ctoi deL- -vice having a means' for indicating the exact cen- Aa lens:

A 4further Objectis" to provide" a 'protractor devicehaxfirg a micrinete'rladjustm'ent for'lo'catin'g Li a r`lens Lblcmk-f*properly 'withrespeet to -ftl'r'e prof tractor. Y

A furtherrobjectfis tol provide a. protractordee vice in which a removable transparent protractor card is employed so that different cards may be inserted for different layout problems.

Other and additional objects will be apparent to those familiar with the art on examination of the drawings, the specification and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top view of the protractor device of this invention.; .qi f' "4l v Fig. 2" is a Avertical section;y of thedevi'ceY of Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an expanded view of supporting screen.

Fig. 5 is an assembled view of-the screen ofv Fig. 4 having a lens blank thereon and diagrammatically indicating the through.

. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionshowing the screen, lens blank and ruler.

Fig. .7 is an enlarged top view of the rulerof Fig. 6.' f 1;

'Ihe protractor device as shown in Fig. 1 is housed in a substantially rectangular... box I0 having-an inclined top II as shown inFig. 2. The angle of inclination is preferably about to the horizontal as shownbut may be varied somewhat to suit the lneeds of a person using the device. Thisbox I0 is formed preferably of wood or plastic-either by cementing various pieces together as shown or by molding. The major portion of the inclined top surface II of' the box 'l0 is open to receive a transparent screen I3 of Lucitely or Plexiglass or other transparent plastic material. The remainder of the top portion II has aniopening I4'in which a second screen I5 'preferably of green colored transparent plastic material isreceived. VThis screen I5 is ,preferablyV inclined at a slightly greater angle-than the first screen I3 so that it will lie on a plane'normal to the line `of'vision of a person usingthe Adevice as doesthe first screen I3. The second opening I1 is" covered by a removable lid I8 for receiving an inkwell. The interior of the vbox` I0 is dividedinto two compartments and 2I by another green colored screen 22 of the Asame material, as shown in Fig.

2. The smaller of lthese c'ompartments120 is occupied by the/inkwell 23 and also contains a lampv bulb 24 disposed so 4that the maximum ofvlight may pass through-'the two screens I5 and 22. The large screen I3 extends from the front wall 2B of thel box l0 upwardly and rearwardly to a point adjacent the light bulb 24 passing beyond the inclined interior lter screen 22. 'I'he underside of the screen' I3 isfrosted either by etching ormechanical abrasion so as to better receive light impinging on this surface regardless of the angle lat which the light beams impinge. ished and located adjacent the light bulb 24 so as to pick up as much light as possible.

The entire exposedarea of thescreen I3 is covered by a protractor card 21-as Yshown. in Figs. 1 and 6. The front edge 28 of the top II the protractor path of light rays there- Y The rear edge 26 of this screen I3 ispolvin Fig. 1 where it is clear of the card 21.

4 site the micrometer screw 3I a pin 34 supported in the top II of the box I0 is mounted. This pin 34 carries a rotatable arm 35 which extends to a position over the protractor card 21 when rotated downwardly-and which may be swung about the pin 34 to a position indicated at 31 The lower end of this arm 35 is provided with a small marking hole 38, which hole 38, when the arm 35 ris in the lower position, is exactly in alignment with the center of ithe protractor card 21.

A knob 45 is provided adjacent the lower end of ltop II ofthe box IIJ by a screw. In practice, the

'm lens blank 33 to be marked with guide lines for 'grinding is laid on top of the protractor card is removable, "sothat this card which slips in Y between-,the screen and the side members may be removed and replaced by other protractor cards. dependingr on. the particular layoutA vrequirements. This removable edge 28 is also provided with a threaded hole 30 .whichfreceives a micrometer adjusting screw 3| for locating the] 161151011531533. Wfl 565.9599129 the Card 214.99m:

21L and its position then adjusted by means of the micrometer screw 3|, after which the arm is swung into the lower predetermined position to mark the exactcenter of the lens blank 33 with respect to the protracor card 21. Y Y

A snap switch 44 is provided in the top II of the box I0 for turning the light bulb 24 off or on. The illuminated green screen I5 located above the swivel arm is surrounded preferably by a black nonreecting surface and it has been found that when a bifocal lens is held in position above this screen I5 a person looking through the lens at the screen I5 as well as the black surrounding surfaces will see the outline of the bifocal portion of the lens quite distinctly. The line of joinder of the fused portions of the lens blank will be brightly illuminated with a light, almost white, line, while the remainder of the lens blank is illuminated with a slight greenish tint of lesser intensity. This screen arrangement is, therefore, particularly useful in examining a lens blank to determine the shape and other qualities as well as the location of the bifocal lens element.

A trough-like depression in the top of the box serves as a rack for holding the blank marking stylus or pen. As shown in Fig. 3 the inkwell 23 comprises a glass jar 45 received in a small compartment 46 containinginsulating material 41 to prevent the heat of the lamp bulb 24 fromr evaporating the ink which is contained in a sponge 48 in the bottom of the inkwell 23. The

'swivel cover I8 supported by a screw 5B in the top II of the box I0 also serves to prevent evaporation of the ink.

The main screen I3, as shown in Fig. 4, is formed of two pieces I3 and I3a' of transparent plastic material and a'small piece of metallic foil 5I having high reective properties such as aluminum Yor tin foil. As shown in Fig. 4 the major piece of the screen I3 is cut out as indicated at 52the inner end 53 of the cutout portion 52 being beveled at an angle approximately, and the metallic foil being cemented to the beveled surface formed. After the foil 5I has been cemented in place the second piece 32a of the screen I3 which is cut to the exact shape of the l,cutout portion 52 is cemented in place so that the resulting screen I3 comprises a transparent sheet of plastic material having a small rectangular pieceV of foil 5I disposed approximately at a point slightly to one side of its `center. I

The function of this foil 5I is best shown in Fig. 5.

White rays of light from the lamp bulb 24 enterV the polished end of the screen and pass through indicated at 552?eiergesforntlietop surface o thislightis reected toward .the eyes ofv the-:per-

sonusing the device from.theinterfacebfthe hard glass and soft glass ask indicated -by-g the single-.beam58 Thus when aabifocal lens blank 33f2has been locatedoverl thecenter of1tlie1 pro tractor card 21 and, thevbulbl is lightedrthe topgedge 5610i, the bifocalelement=51 appearsto the operator as a bright light line. He then adjusts the position of the blank 33 by means of the adjusting screw 3| and the parallel crosswise lines 60 on the protractor card 21 until the top of the bifocal portion 51 is located the exact number of millimeters below the center of the lens as that particular prescription requires. Similarly the lens blank 33 may be shifted to the right or left so that the bifocal element 51 is centered properly with respect to the lens center or is the prescribed distance off center. When this has been done the operator takes the marking stick (not shown) and marks the center of the lens blank 33 to be used in laying out and grinding the lens. The arm is then swung upwardly clear of the protractor card 21 and a curved ruler 6l which may be formed of any suitable flexible material such as leather or plastic as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is used to lay out angles determined from the p-rotractor card 21. The ends of this ruler 6I extend beyond the lens blank 33 and lie flat against the protractor card 21 while the upwardly curving central portion lies fiat against the top surface of the lens blank 33. Thus a diameter at any desired angle may be easily laid out on the blank by placing the two ends of the ruler 6| along the proper radial lines of the protractor card 21 and using the pan (not shown) to scribe a line on the blank as guided by the edge of the ruler 6|.

After the blank 33 has been marked with the required guide lines in red ink, it is removed from the device and cemented to a steel holder by means of pitch. The red lines yare thus readily visible against the black background of the pitch, and since they are cn the convex side of the blank which is secured to the holder, they are not removed during grinding which is carried out on the concave side.

When the blank 33 has been ground to the required shape, `it is removed from the supporting block and, after the pitch and markings have been cleaned off, returned to the layout device for marking of the lines to be used as a guide in cutting off the edges to the finished lens shape.

Usually the protractor card 21 is removed and replaced by a card having different markings thereon which markings are used to mark a line on the blank corresponding to the exact periphery of the spectacle lens. For this operation the bifocal element 51 must be exactly located, as

directed by the prescription, so that it will be in the proper position in the finished lens.

The procedure in laying out the edge-cutting guide lines is similar to that used for the grinding lines, in that the lens blank 33 is placed in the illuminated protractor card 21 and the top edge of the bifocal element 51, located by the white line indicated by the beam 58, is shifted bythe-micrometer adjustment screw-23 I suntilrtlie bifocal element 51 i is4 exactly positioned:with-Tre-v spct tol the card-'21W The-marking-lpenfr (not shown) is then used to lay out the-contounlines; arid the'. blank 33` is removedv for-cutting and subsequent installation in the spectacle'lfraine.V

From the foregoing-it` will -be apparent that-the' layout device of thisinvention both 'greatly sim plifies and increases the accuracy Awitlrwlfiieh a spectacle lens `blank,particularly infthefcaseof abif'ocal lensl blank, can-belaid eut with-guide lines forthe-lens-A grir'idirig.l operatienfi-aswell as for ther subsequent edge 1 cutting operation. This greater speed andfaccuracy isdue largely tothe fact f that the humanjudgmen't factor is reduced tela-minimum', making more precisemeasure-l men-ts' possible` and reducing the -"possibi-lityof error.- y

It will also be apparent-to those fami-liar` with: the artf that`-- various changesor modifications may be made in the embodiment of the device described without departing from the spirit of this invention, whose scope is defined by the following claims:

What is claimed is:

l. A layout device for bifocal lens blanks comprising an opaque box having an opening in the top surface thereof, a screen of transparent material disposed in said opening, a source of light within said box disposed adjacent one edge of said screen, a second colored screen disposed within said box so that light from said source must pass through said screen before striking the bottom of said rst mentioned screen, and a reflecting surface integral with said rst mentioned screen for reflecting a portion of the light entering the edge of said first mentioned screen upwardly, said surface being disposed some distance from said edge of said screen and making an acute angle with respect to the surfaces of the screen.

2. A layout device for bifocal lens blanks comprising an opaque box having an opening in the top surface thereof, a screen of transparent material frosted on its lower side disposed in said opening, a source of light within said box disposed adjacent one edge of said screen, a second colored screen disposed within said box so that light from said source must pass through said screen before striking said lower side of said first mentioned screen, and a reilecting surface integral with said first mentioned screen and disposed some distance from the edge of said screen for reflecting a portion of the light entering the edge of said first mentioned screen upwardly, the reecting surface making an angle less than a right angle and greater than one-half a right angle with the top of said first mentioned screen, and being of such width and height as to make the segment boundary in a bifocal lens blank resting on the screen clearly visible.

3. A device of the class described comprising a transparent screen having its bottom side frosted, a source of polychromatic illumination disposed adjacent a polished edge of said screen, means for filtering a portion of the light from said source to produce monochromatic light which impinges on the bottom of said screen, a reflecting surface in saidA screen disposed at an acute angle with respect to the surface of the screen and at a distance from said polished edge thereof for reflecting light .entering said polished edge of said screen upwardly, and a bifocal lens blanky on top of said screen movable with respect to said area to casta beam of light upon the segment boundary between the bifocal lens element and the remainder of the blank making the boundary clearly observable. p

4. A device of the class described Vcomprising a transparent screen, a source of polychromatic illumination disposed adjacent one edge of said screen, means for ltering a portion of the light from said source to produce monochromatic light which impinges on the bottom of said screen, and a reflecting surface in said screen disposed at an acute angle with respect to the surface of said screen and at some distance from the edge thereof for reflecting light entering Said edge of said screen upwardly, said reflecting surface extending a distance laterally and vertically through said plate suicient to make possible observation of the segment boundary in a bifocal lens blank supported on the screen.

JOHN H. LINE.

REFERENCES CITED l UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,161,882 Pettengill Nov. 30, 1915 1,164,795 Emerson Dec. 21, 1915 v1,320,542 Gilbert Nov. 4, 1919 1,336,040 Mathewson Apr. 6, 1920 1,622,776 Fisher Mar. 29, 1927 1,931,477 Allen Oct. 24, 1933 1,977,446 Long Oct. 16, 1934 2,104,079 Kahn Jan. 4, 1938 2,247,737 Weeks July 1, 1941 Stewart Dec. 24, 1946 

